It Started with a Bet? The Alternate Story
by Usearki
Summary: Alternate story to 'it Started with a Bet' where Gai challenges Kakashi to see which one of them can get Sakura to go on a date instead. KakaSaku. Intended to be a one shot, but will have 3 parts. Written for my own amusement. [Complete]
1. The Bet

This is an alternate story that my cousin, RabidPlotBunny, insisted on making me write. It starts off the same way as "It Started with a Bet?" but diverges when they are discussing why Sakura has never gone out with anyone and Gai decides that he will challenge Kakashi to see which one of them can get Sakura to go on a date instead. More humorous and lighthearted than my original story – well, I think so anyway! (especially chapters 2 and 3)

Obligatory disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Some characters may be OOC. Rated for some bad words and adult situations. I don't think it's too bad, but it might be towards the higher end of PG-13 (T). If anyone thinks I should up the rating at any time, let me know and I'll raise it!

Pairing - Kakashi x Sakura (who else :-P)

This story didn't come out quite as I originally envisaged, but I had a hell of a lot of fun writing it all the same, and that's what matters.

This was also intended to be a One Shot, but because it got so long, I decided to split it into 3 parts; "The Bet" "The Date" and "The Aftermath"

Many thanks to TDotShia, who read it over and pointed out a couple of things that needed fixing up. Much appreciated!

I hope you enjoy it!

xo xo xo xo xo xo xo

**Chapter 1 – The Bet.**

Kakashi sat facing the window in the Jounin Bar with his… well he'd lost count of how many drinks he'd had by now, but it was a lot. He was half heartedly listening to Gai, his self-proclaimed "eternal rival" carry on boisterously about…. Well, whatever. He had stopped listening to what the idiot was actually saying several minutes ago.

"How did I get myself into this" he thought fuzzily to himself as the alcohol took further effect. There had been a fairly large group to start with, but everyone else had drifted away until it was just Gai and himself. He gave a mental shrug; it didn't really seem that important anymore. He put his glass down with a quiet clink and let out an appreciative sigh.

Gai grimaced as he noted that Kakashi had finished yet another drink. "Ah, my eternal rival, how is it that even when you are approaching the most drunken of stupors, you can drink and yet keep that face of yours hidden behind that mask?"

Kakashi looked up and blearily fixed Gai's gaze with his one exposed eye. "That, Gai, is a trade secret."

"Ah, Kakashi, you are no fun!" Gai said mournfully as he slumped back in his seat.

Silently they stared out of the window watching the people pass by, whatever rational conversation that could occur between these two having been exhausted for the moment. Kakashi grimaced as he saw Sakura being followed by Lee who was trying to be inconspicuous, but failing terribly dressed as he was in his trademark green spandex suit. Sakura knew he was following her and she had a face like thunder. .

"Ah! Sakura," Gai enthused, "Such a beautiful flower of young womanhood! She is wasting her burning youth away pining after Sasuke, whilst Lee has devoted his youthfulness to her…"

"Oh come off it Gai," said Kakashi, "You are deluding yourself as much as Lee is. She just does not like him in that way. He is wasting HIS "burning youth" chasing after her like that! Besides, she got over Sasuke a long time ago."

"But it has been, what, 3 or 4 years now since the rescue of the the Uchiha boy? And yet since then she has turned down every single person that asks her out. She must still hold a torch for him… Such a waste of youth," Gai continued mournfully.

"She's still young, there's plenty of time for her to find someone. Besides, she has been busy with her studies under Tsunade, plus she doesn't get asked out much, I think Lee sometimes scares any potential suitors off," Kakashi slurred. "Hell, even Jiraiya would probably have more chance with Sakura than Lee does."

"Hmm, if what you say is true…" Gai pondered drunkenly for a moment, "In that case I propose a bet!"

"A bet?"

"Yes a bet! We shall have a contest to see who can win a date with the beautiful Haruno Sakura…"

"Don't you think she's a bit... young? And what do you think Lee will say when you start chasing her?"

"Ah! Kakashi, she's old enough, and Lee will get over it." Gai gave Kakashi a drunken, yet calculating look, "Of course, if you are chicken…"

Now normally Kakashi would have blown him off, but excessive alcohol consumption can render even the most rational of minds temporarily insensible. He gave Gai a sidelong look in return, "So, what are the terms of this… bet?"

Gai pondered for a moment, "Hmmm… ok, if you can manage to secure a date with the beautiful cherry blossom, then I, the beautiful green beast of Konoha, will run around the village 1000 times wearing only a loincloth whilst beating myself with a brush. Then I will acknowledge in front of everyone in the village that you are a better ninja than I!"

Kakashi raised his visible eyebrow. That sounded pretty stupid, it was typical of Gai… "And what happens if I lose?"

"Then you will have to walk around Konoha for a whole day without that mask of yours. And that means nothing must cover your face and you must make sure that everyone can see you!"

Kakashi grimaced – if it had been just "without the mask" then he could have used something else to cover his face, but even though he was inebriated, Gai had covered that particular out. Still, he was sure that he could find a way around it given time, but the easiest way was to make sure that he didn't lose! He gave a sigh, "Ok then Gai, I'll agree to this contest. When do we start?"

"No time like the present!" Gai swayed drunkenly as he stood up, "May the best Ninja win!" and with that, he went to find his target.

The masked man sat for a moment, suddenly realizing, despite his drunken state, that perhaps this wasn't such a good idea after all. He shrugged to himself as he left the bar to follow in his rival's footsteps. He didn't have a lot of choice – he'd have to go along with this until he figured a way out of it.

But letting Gai win was not an option!

xo xo xo xo xo xo xo

Haruno Sakura headed back toward the medical center in a bit of a mood. Tsunade had sent her on a stupid errand and she had found herself being followed by the Baka in Green, Lee. Little did she know that her day was about to get a lot stranger.

"Sakura-Chan!" she heard a cheerful shout from behind her. She stopped dead, back ramrod straight. That had sounded like Gai. Why in hell would he call her in that tone of voice? Slowly she turned around. Shit, it WAS Gai…

"Gai-Sensei. What can I do for you," she asked politely.

"Ah, Sakura-Chan," Gai slurred, "such a pretty blossom, would you consent to have a drink with me?"

Sakura rolled her eyes. Gai was drunk. "I'm sorry Gai-Sensei, I have to get back to work and I think you've had more than enough already."

Gai got on his knees, "Oh, Please Sakura. I will be forever in your debt…"

Sakura stood there, face red, embarrassed to hell. "Get up Gai-Sensei. You are making a scene."

"I'll stop if you agree to go for a drink with me…"

"Gai-sensei, with all due respect I would sooner have a drink with Orochimaru." She turned to leave and almost ran into Kakashi.

"Hey, Sakura, Is this idiot causing you trouble?" he asked, leaning over her.

"It's nothing I can't handle, Kakashi-Sensei."

"Hmm… Let me escort you anyway, just to make sure that no more trouble comes up."

Sakura looked at him. It was obvious that he had been drinking as well. Just what she needed, two drunk Jounins being idiots. Well, a drunk Kakashi-Sensei was preferable to a drunk Gai-Sensei any day!

"Sure, whatever." She said in a disinterested tone and headed back toward the medical center, Kakashi in tow.

"Ah! My eternal rival wins this round, but it's not over yet!" Gai shouted as they left.

Sakura looked over to Kakashi, "What was all that about?"

The copy-nin looked embarrassed, "Ah, nothing really."

Sakura sighed, "Fine, I'm sure I don't want to know anyway. I really don't need Gai-Sensei to start acting like Lee-San though."

"Is Lee really that much trouble?"

"You have no idea…"

"Just tell him to piss off."

"I tried that."

Kakashi shrugged, "Well, you're a ninja. If he won't get the message kick him in the nads (1) or something."

"Kakashi-Sensei!" Sakura was shocked, "How could you suggest such a thing?"

"Oh, come on, you'd be doing us all a favor by ensuring that he couldn't breed."

Sakura couldn't help it. She broke down into giggles. "You'd never have said that if you were sober." She pointed out, "but you do have a point."

"Of course I do. Mind you, I wouldn't be surprised if both of them died virgins. They'd be better off sticking with each other."

Sakura was suddenly assailed by the mental image of what Gai and Lee would look like if they were naked – and in a compromising position. She felt sick. "Shit, thanks for that thought," she said.

Kakashi looked at her quizzically.

"Never mind, you don't want to know. Let's just say that I understand why they are both single and leave it at that."

"Heh – I've got nothing to worry about then." Kakashi grinned under his mask.

"Pardon?"

"Oh, nothing. I'll let you get back to work now. See you later!" He attempted to poof out and failed, so he wandered off down the road, weaving slightly.

Sakura watched him leave, there was something strange going on and she couldn't help but wonder what it was.

Whatever it was, it couldn't be anything good.

Later that evening, Sakura was heading towards home after just having avoided her first stalker, when she ran smack-bang into her second.

"Good evening, Gai-sensei," she began politely, hoping that he wasn't going to start again. Sadly, her hopes were in vain.

"Ah, Sakura-Chan, most beautiful of blossoms, will you consent to go for a drink with me… please?" He was not quite as drunk as he had been earlier, but he was just as nauseating as ever.

Sakura sighed in exasperation, "Gai-Sensei, did you not understand when I said no earlier?"

"But Sakura, it's only one drink…"

"No, Gai-Sensei." Sakura was resolute. She didn't know what was going on, but there was no way she would even consider having a drink with Gai. She was startled by another presence behind her. She turned to find the other player in today's strange game, Hatake Kakashi.

"Yo, Sakura," he said, "Is this idiot giving you trouble again?"

Before she could answer, Gai started up again, "Oh come on, Sakura, surely…"

Sakura glanced at Kakashi and was reminded of what he had said earlier. She turned to Gai and before he could finish his sentence she gave him a swift kick where it would hurt the most. Kakashi covered his visible eye and winced as Gai crumpled to the floor in agony.

"Is that enough of a NO for you, Gai Sensei?" she said in extreme annoyance. Then she turned to Kakashi, "And YOU are coming with me," she said in a no-nonsense tone.

Normally the Jounin would have brushed her off, but she was obviously so annoyed that he decided it would probably be better for his health (and that of Gai) if he went along with her. They left Gai in a heap in the middle of the road groaning softly.

In the shadows a few meters away, Lee had watched the spectacle unfold and he too winced in sympathy. If that was how she said no when she got annoyed he would stay away from her for a while, or at least until he had invested in a 'box.'(2) He went to the aid of his Sensei, wondering what in hell Gai had been up to. Was Gai really hitting on Sakura? That would be stupid… wouldn't it?

Sakura dragged Kakashi through the streets back to her apartment with a face like thunder. There was something going on, and she was going to get to the bottom of it if it killed her, or Kakashi. She had elected to take him to her apartment as she wanted to get the truth out of him, if she could, without the risk of being disturbed.

Of course, Kakashi was still under the effects of alcohol, although he was not quite as… smashed… as he had been earlier, or he probably wouldn't be going along with her quite so easily, even if he did owe her an explanation and help to find her a way out of the mess he'd inadvertently landed her in.

She pushed him into her apartment and shut the door and turned to the masked man. "Right, I want to know what is going on."

"I don't know what you are talking about, Sakura," he said, hoping he could get away with it. It was not to be.

"Bullshit, Kakashi-_sensei_", she stressed the Sensei part almost like an insult. "I've got enough on my plate with one green-baka being a pest. I don't need his Sensei starting too, and you seem to know something about it, so spill!"

Kakashi sighed, knowing that he would not be able to get out of this one so easily. He should have known that the bet was a stupid thing, and even if he had more sense than to pursue it, Gai would take it to the ends of the earth just to prove a point.

He sighed as he considered where to start. This was going to sound bad however he put it. "Gai and I made a bet…" he began. Sakura was looking at him in annoyance. He gulped and put his hand behind his head and smiled in embarrassment, "We kind of bet on who could get you to go on a date…"

"I don't believe it!" Sakura exclaimed, "Of all the stupid things to bet on, why that?"

"Well, it was Gai's idea and we were rather… the worse for wear. You just happened to be passing the bar at the time..."

"So it could have been anyone?"

"No, it only came about because it was you."

"And that is why Gai is trying to get me to go for a drink?"

"Ah, well, we never decided what would constitute a date, and Gai is so repressed when it comes to women he probably thought that would be enough."

Sakura slumped in a chair, "So what happens if one of you wins?"

"If I win then Gai has to run around the village 1000 times wearing only a loincloth whilst beating himself with a brush and after that he said he would announce to the whole village that I am the better ninja."

"That sounds stupid enough for Gai. If he wins, heaven forbid, what then?"

Kakashi mumbled something that Sakura couldn't quite hear.

"Can you say that a little louder please?" Sakura was not going to let it go.

Kakashi sighed, "If Gai wins then I have to walk around Konoha without my mask or any other face covering for a whole day."

Sakura started to laugh at that. "Well, you got yourself into this mess, you can get yourself out of it!"

"That's not a problem for me," Kakashi said, almost with a smirk, "After all, you'll never agree to go on a date with Gai will you?"

"Good grief, no!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Thing is," the masked man scratched at the back of his head, "We never agreed on a time limit either, and knowing Gai he will probably pursue it till the end of time, despite what you did to him earlier."

"Shit, you are probably right," She hadn't considered that possibility. She dropped her head into her hands and let out a huge sigh, "Why me?"

"It's not that bad, there is a way out of this."

"Oh?" Sakura wanted to know what it was.

"Well, you have 2 options. One, you go for a drink with Gai, we say that fulfills the bet and I have to go around with my face exposed for a whole day…"

"Hmmm," Sakura pretended to give it some thought, "Nope, can't do that. If he decides that agreeing is some kind of come on, I'll never be rid of him, and I know how important that silly mask is to you."

Kakashi looked slightly affronted to the jibe about his mask, but carried on, "In that case the only other option is for me to take you on a date. That will fulfill the terms of the bet and get Gai off your back."

Sakura sat in consideration for a moment. She knew that the masked Jounin was right. Well, if he was offering…

"So, are you offering to take me on a date?"

"Ah, yeah, I suppose I am."

"A proper date? Not just a drink?"

"Yes, if for nothing else but to show Gai how it should be done."

"Ok, I'll agree to that, but I want to be able to ask you to do one thing after the date is over."

He raised his visible eyebrow at her, "I could always just leave you to Gai's mercies…"

Sakura narrowed her eyes at him, "Hey! This crap is at least partially your fault you know, and besides, I could always go for that drink with Gai-Sensei…"

Kakashi knew she was bluffing, just as he was, and sighed as his guilty conscience pricked him. He knew that he was responsible for allowing her to be dragged into this, and he felt that he did owe her something. "Fine, fine. I'll let you ask me to do one thing after the date is over." He just hoped it would be nothing bad.

"Don't look so worried," she said, "I might not ask you to do anything. It depends on how the date goes, but you've got to make an effort."

"OK, so when is good for you?"

"How does tomorrow night sound?"

"That sounds good to me. I'll pick you up at 7. Is that ok?"

"Sure, see you at seven, and don't be late!"

He smiled at her and poofed out. Sakura sighed. Stupid Jounins and their stupid games. How on earth had Kakashi managed to get them both caught up in this mess?

Well, she'd go on this date, and she had a little plan of her own…

Whether she failed or succeeded, this was going to be fun!

xo xo xo xo xo xo xo

**Authors Notes:**

(1) "nads" – Gonads, testicles, balls. You get the idea. Probably just a localised British term, but I wanted to use it, so I did. :-P

(2) "Box" – it's the language thing again. You see, over here in the UK I know such an implement as "A cricketers box," (box for short,) or a "Cup". TDotShia, who is Canadian, and was so kind as to read the story over for me, didn't quite know what I was referring to, and the nearest she could come up with was a Jockstrap (a word I don't feel that comfortable using for some reason…) Although I don't think I've heard that word used too much over here, it could possibly be known as that by younger people in this country as Americanization of the language continues. However, my way of writing it will stay, although I did add this note to make it clearer. (sighs at 'younger people' – I make myself feel old.) Of course, if it is known as that over here and I'm somehow way out of touch, I apologize. I'm still not changing it though! XD

The next chapter "The Date," will be up in about 3 days!


	2. The Date

Welcome back to the 2nd chapter in my "alternate one shot."

Disclaimer – I do not own Naruto – Characters may be OOC – Rated for some bad words and Adult Situations. I don't think it's too bad, but it might be towards the high end of PG-13 (T). If anyone thinks I should up the rating at any time, let me know and I'll raise it!

Pairing: Kakashi x Sakura. Small note - I apologize if it's not totally clear to everyone reading, but Sakura is grown up in this story. I would say that Sakura is about 19 which would make Kakashi about 33. I don't go for all that loli stuff.

This story was written for the hell of it, and was a lot more fun and easier to write than the original "It Started with a Bet?" XD

Thanks to TDotShia who read the whole thing over and pointed out a few things that needed to be fixed up. Also this story only exists because of something she said to me in regard to the original story over MSN one day - so blame her :-P

xo xo xo xo xo xo xo

**Chapter 2 – The Date.**

The next evening, Sakura waited for Kakashi to arrive. She knew it was odds on that her 'date' would be late, but she hoped that he wouldn't be too late. She didn't want to waste half the evening waiting on the eternally tardy man.

She had decided to put her plan into action. She was wearing a figure hugging black dress that left little to the imagination, whilst not looking slutty. She wore a pair of strappy sandals with a small heel and she finished the ensemble off with a pair of small gold earrings with a matching necklace and a small black purse. Her pink hair cascaded down her back, and she had sprayed herself with her favorite perfume.

Her mission, should she choose to accept it, was to get under the skin (and mask) of one Hatake Kakashi, this being the best chance she would ever have at getting close to the normally unflappable ninja. Of course, she had wanted him to make an effort for this 'date,' which is why she had come up with the idea of asking him to do something after the date was over. There had been just a little misdirection in that request, and she hoped that he'd bought her act.

Eventually, the masked man knocked on the door only 15 minutes late! It would also appear as if he had made an effort, at least having turned up not in uniform, which was a miracle in itself. Sakura had wondered if he had even owned any other clothes. He was dressed all in black though, and he had ditched the forehead protector in favor of a simple black eye-patch.

"Yo," he said in his usual nonchalant manner as Sakura appeared, "you look nice." That was what he said anyway, what he was thinking was more along the lines of 'wow, she looks fantastic!'

"You don't look so bad yourself," she replied. "I must admit that I half expected you to turn up in uniform."

"Well, I said I wanted to show Gai how it should be done, and if I turned up in my usual attire he wouldn't learn anything." Kakashi offered his arm, Sakura took it and they left her apartment together.

Sakura had to ask, "Speaking of Gai-Sensei, how did he take the news?"

Kakashi looked embarrassed, "Actually, I forgot to tell him."

"What?" Sakura was incredulous, "you know that if he doesn't see us for himself he'll say we are making it up…"

"I wouldn't worry, I'm sure we'll run into him before the evening is over."

Sakura sighed, "You're probably right. He's probably out looking for me right now. I have no idea how I managed to avoid him all day."

Kakashi knew though. He'd been tailing Gai for most of the day and distracting him whenever he got too close to Sakura.

Of course, that was the cue for said moronic green idiot to turn up.

"Ah, there you are Sakura, I've been looking for you," Gai started, then he stopped dead. "What's going on here?" he asked.

"I'm sorry Gai-Sensei, but before you ask, I can't go out with you. I'm on a date with Kakashi-sensei," Sakura said.

"Sakura, I think you can drop the sensei part now. It's not exactly appropriate in the circumstances." Kakashi was amused.

"Ah, yes Kakashi, sorry." Sakura blushed.

"A… a date? You actually got her to go on a date with you?" Gai was incredulous.

"Is that so strange?" Kakashi smirked at Gai.

Before Gai could reply, there was a shout of "Gai-Sensei!" and Lee bounded up. At the sight of the green clone, Kakashi's visible eye bugged out, and Sakura turned almost as green as the attire of the two in front of her. You see, Lee had made good on his idea of investing in a 'box'(1) but he had chosen one that made him look like some kind of deformed, perverted ballet dancer, especially when coupled with that green spandex. Kakashi couldn't suppress a snigger, which brought Lee's attention to them.

"What is going on here?" Lee asked.

"They are going on a date," Gai had tears running down his face, "Ah, the shame! Bested by my eternal rival again!"

"A date? The beautiful Sakura-chan is on a date with someone other than me?" It was too much for Lee, he started crying too, and the green pair embraced as they turned into a blubbering mess in the middle of the street.

"Ah, whatever," Sakura said as she sweatdropped. She nudged Kakashi and they quietly left the green blunders to their misery.

"You know, they'll probably watch us for the rest of the evening?" Kakashi said.

"I suppose we'd better give them a show to remember then," Sakura laughed.

They reached the quiet restaurant that Kakashi had chosen, and they were given a seat near the window. They ordered and made small talk until the food arrived.

Watching the food disappear from Kakashi's plate, Sakura was really curious. "So how is it that you can eat and not take off your mask?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me," Sakura really wanted to know.

Kakashi considered for a moment, then decided to tell her. If she didn't believe him, then tough.

"Back in my youth I met a wandering martial artist and he taught me the basics of Martial Arts Dining.(2) The point of the style is to eat as much as you can without anyone seeing the food entering your mouth, I just had to take it to the next level to be able to do it whilst wearing a mask, which took a lot of practice. Of course I could never use the full style as the main practitioners of that particular art all have huge mouths, I suppose it's their version of a bloodline limit, but with normal sized portions it's enough to get me by."

Sakura wasn't convinced. "That's ridiculous," she said, "Who ever heard of Martial Arts Dining?"

Kakashi sighed. He should have known that she wouldn't believe him. "Well, at least it's not as bad as Martial Arts Tea Ceremony." He said with a chuckle. "There is another part to the style of Martial Arts Dining called the Gourmet du fois gras, where you feed your opponent without them noticing. Did you never wonder why when you were on all those diets back in your Genin days, you never lost weight? It was because I couldn't see the team weakened on missions by a member that was starving themselves and I used that style to ensure your strength."

Sakura sat there, her eyes widening in realization. "You did that?" she looked shocked.

"I did what I had to, to ensure the safety of the team." He replied, "But for what it's worth, I'm sorry. I should have talked to you about it instead."

"That's ok, I'm actually rather impressed, but how come the owners of Ichiraku Ramen managed to see your face when we bought you ramen back then?"

"Ah, well, I had just got out of the hospital and I was having an off day…"

"Hmm, that's understandable I suppose. So can you show me the second technique now?"

"What? The Gourmet du fois gras?" You want me to feed you?"

"Sure. No one is going to notice if what you said is true." Sakura waited a few moments. "Well?" she asked.

"_You_ didn't even notice." Kakashi said with a smirk.

Sakura looked at his plate. Yes, it was a little emptier, and if she thought about it she could just catch the lingering taste of the food. "Wow, that IS good," she said, then she stopped as she realized that he had probably fed her using HIS fork. That meant it was like an indirect kiss. She blushed at that thought.

Kakashi had just eaten another forkful, when he noticed Sakura blushing. "Huh?" he said, then looked at the fork and said "Oh…"

There was a pregnant silence for a few moments, which was suddenly broken by a ruckus from outside.

"Heh, looks like we've attracted another 2 people for our audience tonight," Kakashi said gesturing to the window. He waved cheerily to Naruto and Sasuke who were bug eyed at seeing the couple inside. Naruto suddenly got even more bug eyed when he saw Lee, and collapsed to the floor, howling with laughter and pointing at the green clad young man's 'Box.' Sasuke just scowled and looked like he was doing his best not to throw up.

Sakura laughed, "The way things are going, by the time this date is over we'll have every ninja in the village following us."

"So, do you still want to put on a show for them?"

"Sure, sounds like fun." Sakura was happy, if they were going to continue to put on a show, then she would make sure it was a good one… and maybe, just maybe, it would make her own plan somewhat easier.

They finished their meal, occasionally watching the antics of the idiots outside with relative amusement, then moved on.

As they walked through the streets the small group behind them kept a respectful distance, but by the time they got to their next destination, a small nightclub, it had grown, adding Ino, Shikamaru and to Naruto's delight, Hinata to the ranks. They could just about hear Shikamaru saying that this was troublesome (it didn't stop him from tagging along though,) and Ino was berating Lee over his choice of… apparel. Hinata could be heard to say that she thought the couple in front of them looked cute, which earned her some strange looks and caused her to hide behind Naruto.

The couple slipped into the nightclub, Kakashi ordered drinks for them and they took a couple of seats in an out of the way booth. They were both amused at the antics of the so-called 'peanut gallery,' watching as the group moved though the club looking for them. Shikamaru just rolled his eyes, muttered "troublesome" and gestured straight towards them. Then the group squeezed around a table on the opposite side of the club.

Sakura couldn't help but laugh, "That lot are supposed to be elite ninjas, but they couldn't be more obvious if they tried."

"I can't decide if they are being nosey or whether they are just concerned about you," Kakashi replied.

"It's probably a bit of both," Sakura smiled, "But I'm a big girl now, I can look after myself."

"Yeah, no kidding," the masked man muttered, remembering what she had done to Gai the day before.

Sakura had been looking at the couples on the dance floor for a while, and noting that a slow song had just come on, she had an idea. "Hey, we don't want to hide in here all night, how about we go out there?" She gestured towards the dancers.

"Why not," Kakashi said and he led Sakura on to the floor. The couple noted with amusement the reactions of their audience as they danced close together. Sakura put her head on Kakashi's shoulder. She was enjoying this more than she thought she would.

Kakashi was also enjoying the close contact. He could smell the clean scent of Sakura's hair mingled with her perfume, which was wonderful. It had been a long time since he had been so close to a real woman, let alone one as attractive as the pink haired girl in his arms, and it was having quite an effect on him, especially in a certain area that was beyond his control. He knew it was inevitable that Sakura would notice, seeing as they were so close together, and he just hoped that she wouldn't get upset…"

Suddenly Sakura looked up in shock. What was that she had just felt?

Kakashi looked embarrassed, "Ah, sorry…" he apologized.

Sakura blushed and caught her breath as she realized exactly what it was she was feeling, "Um… it's ok. I'm quite flattered actually." She put her head back on his shoulder, not trusting herself to say anything else. Inside she was congratulating herself on a job well done. It seemed that her little game may just be paying off.

Kakashi breathed a sigh of relief. He had thought that she would slap him, call him a pervert and storm off. It seemed that she really had grown up, a fact that a certain part of his anatomy seemed only too aware of.

Back at the peanut gallery, they had seen Sakura look up in shock, and they too had been convinced that she would slap the masked man, even if they didn't know the reason. When all she did was blush and go back to her previous position, Lee decided to take action. Followed by catcalls from the group, (which had now swelled by 3 more, those being Chouji and Kiba with Akamaru,) Lee walked out onto the dance floor. Kakashi groaned as he noticed the younger bowl-cut idiot's approach.

Sakura noted Kakashi's groan, and wondered what was wrong. She didn't have to wait long for her answer.

"Sakura, please may I have this dance?" Lee asked.

"Get lost Lee-san," Sakura wasn't in the mood to deal with him now, she was enjoying her dance with Kakashi too much.

"But Sakura…" Lee began, only to be cut off by the masked man.

"You heard the lady. Get lost," Kakashi interjected.

Lee wasn't finished yet. "You do know that he is only going out with you for a bet?"

"Yes Lee-san," Sakura replied with amusement, "Kakashi told me about it. Now piss off before I do something you'll regret."

Knowing that he would not get any further, Lee made his way back to the rest of the group. "She already knew about the bet!" Lee said to Gai, "Kakashi-Sensei told her."

Gai stood up, "That is not an honorable way to go about winning a bet!" he shouted.

Shikamaru spoke up, "Did you specify that he couldn't tell her?"

"Well, no…"

He shrugged, "Seems to me that he's in the clear then."

"But it's not honorable…"

"Is it any less honorable than making a bet like that in the first place? And besides, Lee just tried to interfere by telling Sakura himself." the lazy ninja pointed out.

"I suppose you have a point." Gai was crestfallen, knowing that he had truly lost.

"Ano," Hinata almost whispered, "It may have started off being about a bet, but I'd say they look far too comfortable together for that to be an issue anymore."

"What!" Naruto sat up, "No way…" He made to get up, only to be stopped by Sasuke.

"Listen moron, you remember why Lee-san is wearing that… thing?" Sasuke was referring, of course, to the monstrosity of a 'box' that Lee was sporting.

"Ah, yeah. Sakura-chan kicked Gai-Sensei where it hurts the most…"

"Well if you go out there and disturb her and she takes exception to it, do you want that to happen to you?" All the males at the table, with the exception of Lee, automatically covered their 'family jewels' and winced at the thought, especially Gai, who had been on the receiving end the first time.

Naruto settled down again. "Ah, I get your point," he said, "I think I'll leave them to it…"

"I've got an idea," Said Ino. She lined up, waited for a moment until she had a clear shot and made the appropriate seals "Shintenshin no Jutsu" she muttered, and slumped onto the table, only to find herself pushed back almost straight away. She sat up straight and looked at the couple on the dance floor in shock, with a deep blush on her face.

The whole table wanted to know what had caused Ino to come back so suddenly and blush like that, but she was absolutely mortified, and wouldn't tell them anything. She did lean over and whisper something to Hinata, who gave an "EEP!" and blushed even redder than Ino, if that was possible. She also refused to tell any of the men at the table anything, being far too embarrassed to say such a thing.

Out on the dance floor, Kakashi had noticed Sakura slump for a moment. "Is there something wrong?" he asked, concerned.

Sakura glanced across at the table where their audience was sitting. She caught Ino's eye just as she looked away in embarrassment. "No, I'm fine, but I think that Ino might have got a little more than she bargained for."

Kakashi looked across. "Ah," he said in understanding. He knew all about the Yamanaka's little trick, and figured immediately that must be what Ino had used.

"I tell you what," Sakura said, "Let's get out of here and go for a walk. It's getting a little… crowded, if you know what I mean."

Kakashi readily agreed, and they left the club, tailed by the nosey ninja squad.

They walked around the town and out towards the bridge, Kakashi with his arm around Sakura, something she did not object to. They noted with amusement that someone else had added himself to the group, that being, strangely enough, Ebisu. They could hear the prudish ninja telling Lee off for his immodest state of dress, and asking the group what the hell they were doing. When they told him, he decided to tag along, 'for the sake of keeping an eye on the morals of those involved' being his excuse.

Ibiki had also passed by, but he thought that the group were being moronic, so he left them to it.

The couple stood on the bridge for a while, listening to the antics of the idiot squad behind them with amusement.

Eventually, they decided that enough was enough and headed back towards Sakura's apartment. "Did you have a good time?" Kakashi asked.

"Yes," Sakura replied happily, "It was certainly interesting though." She glanced back at the group of Ninjas that were still following them.

"It certainly was an unusual date, but I'm glad you enjoyed it." Kakashi said amused. "Of course, if you would like a more normal date without the audience…"

"That would be nice," Sakura replied with a smile.

They reached the entrance to Sakura's apartment block. "Well, I suppose I'd better leave you now," Kakashi said. He couldn't keep a small trace of regret out of his voice.

"No, come in for a while," Sakura said.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea."

"Look, we wanted to put on a show for the peanut gallery over there," Sakura gestured to the Nosey Ninjas who were trying to make themselves inconspicuous, but partially owing to the large number of them, they were failing dreadfully, "and if you come in now it'll really mess with their heads." She knew he wasn't convinced, but she wasn't about to let him go now. "I want to talk to you for a moment in private anyway."

Sakura took his hand and Kakashi shrugged and let her lead him into her apartment. Almost as soon as the door was closed, the inevitable ruckus started up outside. They grinned as they could hear several calls of "YEAH GO FOR IT!" coupled with, "NOOOO!" (from Lee,) "That is immoral!" (from Ebisu, who was called down for being a prude by the 'yeah go for it' faction,) and Gai was blubbering about his eternal rival having more than won the bet.

Sasuke cut through all the nonsense when he said, "Che, he's only gone in to wind us up. He'll probably come out again before long."

"Do you really think so, Sasuke-kun?" Chouji said in between mouthfuls of popcorn.

"I'm sure, those two have been playing it up for us all evening. Let's face it, we haven't exactly been subtle about following them."

The group collectively thought about it, and decided that considering Sakura had known about the bet, coupled with the fact that they had been extremely obvious, Sasuke probably had a point. They settled down to wait for Kakashi to come out again so they could take the piss out of him. Well, except for Ino and Hinata. They knew what had happened at the nightclub, and they guessed that the group might be in for a long wait.

"I think we'll head off," Ino said, "it's late and we girls need our beauty sleep."

Not one single shinobi dared to even mutter anything in reply to that as Ino and Hinata left. It would have been more than their life was worth!

Kiba and Naruto then left and returned with a crate of strong beer, much to the appreciation of the rest of the group. If they were going to have to wait, then they might as well enjoy themselves doing it. Ebisu said that it wouldn't be a good idea, but when everyone, including Gai, ignored him, he shrugged and joined in anyway after having had a can shoved into his hand. The only person not allowed to drink was Lee. Everyone knew how he got when he had even a small amount to drink and, as amusing as it could have been, the last thing anyone wanted was for him to go and break down Sakura's door in a jealous fit.

Lee would get annoyed later on though, when Kiba, Naruto and Sasuke started using his 'box' for target practice using stones. Of course, with them being drunk their aim wasn't so good, so he sported quite a few bruises once they got tired of the game, which took quite a long time. Gai had refused to intervene, muttering something about it being good training.

There was also a mini riot involving Chouji as someone tried to steal his last box of popcorn. At this point a couple of Sakura's neighbors had popped their heads out of their windows and yelled at the group to be quiet, which had calmed them down for a short while.

As it turned out, the idiot brigade would end up staying there all night, and getting through several more crates of beer. Then just as they were nursing their hangovers and thinking about going home to sleep, someone remarked that it was past time that they should be in mission control, so with much grumbling and groaning, they shambled over there in complete disarray in search of coffee… (and bandages for Lee)

xo xo xo xo xo xo

As the noise from outside died down, Sakura went through her apartment and closed all the curtains, hoping that the group outside would leave soon so they wouldn't disturb the neighbors too much. She turned to the masked man. "Coffee?" She asked.

"Sure," he replied as he sat down. Sakura left to make the coffee, and after a few minutes returned with the steaming beverages. She sat next to Kakashi.

"So what was it you wanted to talk to me in private about?" he asked.

She turned towards him, "Remember I said that I wanted to ask you to do something after the date was over?" she asked in return.

Kakashi was confused, "I thought you would only ask me that if it didn't go well tonight."

Sakura blushed, "Actually, I never said that. All I said was that it depended on how the date went. I didn't specify good or bad."

Kakashi thought back to what Sakura had said the previous day and realized that he'd been outwitted. He'd forgotten she was that smart. Well, he supposed that he could always blame it on alcohol clouding his judgment so he needn't feel too bad about it. "Damn, you got me," he smiled nervously and scratched the back of his head, "So what do you want me to do?" He really hoped that it wouldn't be anything too bad.

Sakura paused for a few moments looking at anything except Kakashi, raising her courage. Suddenly, she caught his eye with her own and said, "I want you to let me take your mask off." Originally she was going to ask him to remove it himself, but after the events of the evening, she was feeling a little bolder. Besides, if she let him take it off he would probably find some way to stop her seeing his face.

"Does it have to be that?" He asked, knowing that he should have expected something along those lines.

Sakura sighed, "Fine, I won't hold you to it. It wasn't very fair of me to trick you like that anyway."

Kakashi thought about it for a moment, then came to a decision, "No, we made a deal and you won fair and square. You can take it off if you want." He smiled to encourage her.

Sakura blushed and moved herself into a better position for the task. Strangely enough, this involved straddling Kakashi's lap, and putting one hand on his shoulder to steady herself. Maybe she wanted to make sure that he couldn't get away, maybe it was something else, but she didn't feel too forward for doing such a thing.

Kakashi suppressed a groan. It was happening again. She was so close to him and in a far more provocative position than before. He forced himself to remain focused on the matter in hand as Sakura reached up to the thin material covering his face.

"Are you sure you want to let me do this?" Sakura asked as she hooked her fingers under the edge of his mask. In response, he reached up and helped her pull the offending covering down.

Sakura looked at his exposed face in awe. "Damn," she whispered. She couldn't stop herself. She leaned forward and kissed him.

Kakashi's arms went around her as he automatically kissed her back. His tongue sought entrance to her mouth, and she let him in. They kissed like this for quite a while, but eventually they had to come up for air.

"Wow," Sakura panted. She was feeling tingly all over. "Can we do that again?"

"Sakura," Kakashi was nearing the end of his control, but decided to leave the decision of what happened next to the pink haired woman straddling him, "if we do that again I'm going to end up doing a lot more than just kissing you."

Sakura looked at Kakashi, blushed as she realized the position they were in and the implications of what he had just said, then shrugged and kissed him again anyway.

The group outside were completely forgotten, and the coffee cooled with nobody to drink it.

xo xo xo xo xo xo xo

**Authors Notes**

(1)"Box" – See notes in chapter 1

(2)"Martial Arts Dining," "Martial Arts Tea Ceremony" and "Gourmet du fois gras" are taken from Ranma ½. I just thought it would be amusing to explain how Kakashi eats using the Dining technique. I got the relevant DVD out and re-watched those 2 eps of Ranma (at double speed) to make sure I got it at least somewhere near right, if altered slightly to fit circumstances. Oh, BTW – I don't own Ranma either!

Thanks to -

Freakenout - my first review for this story. I'm glad you liked it. I was beginning to think that no one was going to read/review at all. Of course I was still going to post it all even if nobody reviewed, but you made me feel better about it. XD

sweatthangpaige - I hope I answered your question at the top of the chapter. :-)

BBKarateGrl - I thought I'd better make sure that everyone knew what I was on about, as I will sometimes use British slang words when I'm talking to my American and Canadian freinds over MSN and they'll have no clue what I mean. I'm glad you are enjoying it, even though, I agree, the first part is kinda boring and repetetive. Can't be helped tho ;-)

Also thanks to -

Sakurachild, PRoyalAngel, Active-Heart, Ragingslayer, Qingy, Amwong and Eralda.

And once again, thanks to everyone who is still reviewing the original "It Started with a Bet?" - especially BrittRasetra who got the 100th review. In regard to that story, the 2nd epilogue is probably not going to work out. I've started to write it 4 different ways so far, and it just doesn't seem to want to work. If it ever does work, I'll post it up, but don't hold your breath! I quite like the way it ends anyway, and adding to it might spoil it.

Stay tuned for the third and final part of this alternate story, "The Aftermath," in a few days.


	3. The Aftermath

Welcome back for the third and final part of this "alternate One Shot" XD

Disclaimer – I do not own Naruto. Characters may be OOC. Rated for some bad words and adult situations.

This was probably the hardest part of the story to write as I was really struggling to come up with a half decent ending for it, but it I still had a helluva lot of fun writing it! XD

Once again, thanks to TDotShia, who read the whole thing over and pointed out a few things that needed to be fixed up. Domo Arigato!

xo xo xo xo xo xo

**Chapter 3 – The Aftermath.**

Next morning, Tsunade wondered why so many of her Ninjas, including at least a couple that she would never have expected, were wandering round like zombies, clutching their heads at every little noise, looking greener than Gai's and Lee's costumes, and drinking coffee like it was going out of fashion. She caught the attention of Iruka, who seemed to be uninvolved with the madness.

"Hey, Iruka," she called, "have you got any idea what is going on?"

"Not really, Tsunade-Sama," Iruka was just as confused as the Hokage, "I did ask one or two of them, but all they told me was to go and ask Sakura, then they refused to tell me anything else. I think we might be a little short handed today. It's obvious that they have really bad hangovers and none of them are in any fit state for going on missions."

Tsunade sighed and thanked goodness that it had been fairly quiet recently.

Just then Ebisu shuffled past, muttering "It's immoral I tell you..." Tsunade and Iruka looked at each other, wondering who had broken the prudish ninja this time.

"Well, I can't be bothered to deal with this drunken rabble this morning." Tsunade said to Iruka, "and seeing as she isn't here, I think the only way to get to the bottom of this anytime soon will be to go and visit Sakura at her apartment. Could you go find out if she has any idea what's going on and ask her to report in please?"

Iruka looked at his class notes, looked back at the Hokage, and his curiosity won out. He really wanted to know what was going on. Besides, it would be rude to refuse the Hokage's request. "Sure, I'm game," he said, so he put down his notes and trotted out in the direction of the pink haired kunoichi's apartment.

As Iruka left, Tsunade raised her voice to catch the attention of the sleep-deprived and hung-over ninjas making them all wince and clutch at their heads, except for Lee, who was not hung over, just exhausted from having to continually avoid the stones thrown by Kiba, Naruto and Sasuke. "Alright you lot, go home and get some sleep. I'll see you all later." There was a promise of trouble in that voice, which sent a shiver down the spine of even the most zombified shinobi. They filtered out without another word. "And Lee," she called after them, "for heaven's sake, lose that disgusting box!" (1)

xo xo xo xo xo xo xo

At the apartment in question, Sakura had just woken up. She turned over to find a shock of silver hair on the pillow next to her and she blushed as she remembered what had happened the previous night. Well, her plan had worked even better than she had expected, now all she had to worry about was if Kakashi was going to regret it…

She decided to go and take a shower whilst she waited for him to wake up. It would also give him the chance to leave if he decided that was the way to go, but she really hoped that he would stay.

Kakashi watched her leave through barely open eyes. So she was giving him the space to leave if he wanted to? Well, it was a nice thought, but hardly necessary if the lingering look she had just given him was any indication. Maybe things had moved a bit faster than he'd intended, but even during the 'date' he'd decided that if Sakura was willing then he would like to see whether it could work out. He got up to follow her when he heard the water begin to run in the bathroom.

Sakura had turned on the shower and stepped under the streaming jet of water when she had it to the right temperature. A few moments later, she was surprised by a pair of strong arms encircling her.

"Kakashi?"

"Mind if I join you?" he asked in amusement.

"I think you already have," she laughed, turning towards him. No more conversation was forthcoming as he caught her lips in a searing kiss. Well, it certainly seemed that he didn't regret anything so far.

Things would probably have gone a lot further, but suddenly there was a knock at the door. They tried to ignore it, but the knocking came again, only more insistent this time.

"It's probably one of the idiots that were following us last night," Kakashi said with a sigh, "let me answer it and I'll deal with them."

"Sure, go ahead," Sakura said. She watched in appreciation as he wrapped a towel around his waist. "Don't forget your mask!" she reminded him as he left the room.

Kakashi located and pulled his mask on quickly as he walked toward the front door. The knocking came again, and he grumbled, "Yeah, yeah, I'm coming." He opened the door ready to deal with the nuisance that he was sure was imminent, and stopped dead when he saw Iruka on the other side.

The scarred Chuunin was stood there, mouth agape at the sight of Kakashi, dripping wet, dressed only in a small towel and hastily pulled on mask, in Sakura's doorway.

"Ah, Iruka, what can I do for you?" The masked man asked coolly. This visitor was unexpected, having not been a part of the previous night's insanity.

"K… Kakashi?" Iruka spluttered, turning pink in the face. "What are you doing here?"

"Well…" he started, only to be interrupted.

"No, never mind, I don't think I want to know," Iruka said hastily, "but Tsunade sent me to find out if Sakura knew the reason why so many ninjas are too tired and hung-over to work this morning."

"Shit, you mean they were at it all night?" Kakashi was incredulous, mismatched eyes open wide in astonishment.

"What do you mean?" Iruka was confused.

"I'm sorry, but do you mind if we don't discuss it now?" Kakashi asked, "I was in the shower you know."

"Ah, yes, of course," Iruka was flustered, "but seeing as you obviously know something could you come by the office before too long please? Tsunade really wants to get to the bottom of it. Oh, and bring Sakura with you, considering that's who she really wanted to see."

"Sure, we'll come in later."

"Kakashi," Sakura's voice came through the apartment, the sound of running water making it obvious that she was in the shower, "Is there some kind of problem?"

"Ah, no Sakura," he called back. "Bye Iruka," he said with a smirk to the now tomato faced Chuunin, and he firmly shut the door.

Iruka stood there stunned for a moment, then left to make his way back to the Hokage's office, not really any the wiser about why so many Ninjas were incapacitated that morning. He sighed and paled slightly as he wondered what Tsunade would make of what he'd just witnessed.

He stepped into the office, only to come face to face with one Morino Ibiki. "What's the matter, Iruka?" he asked, "You look like you've just seen a ghost or something."

Iruka sighed, "With what's been going on this morning, I think seeing a ghost would have been preferable."

"Ah, yes, I heard about those idiots being hung-over this morning and I still can't believe that Ebisu was involved in that. Did you know that they were tailing Kakashi and Sakura as they were on a date last night?"

"No I didn't know that, but why were they following them in the first place?"

"I have no idea," Ibiki said, "I didn't hang around long enough to find out. I wonder how their date went in the end."

"Oh, I'd say it went just fine," Iruka said with a blush. When Ibiki prodded him to elaborate, he added, "He answered the door to Sakura's apartment this morning, and I'm pretty certain he's been there all night, especially as he was dripping wet and only wearing a towel… oh, and his mask, but it was all crooked."

"Wow, gotta admit, I'd never have seen that one coming." Ibiki smirked, "So I guess that they tailed them back to her apartment, then went and got drunk?"

Iruka sighed again, "From the amount of beer cans and stuff left around Sakura's apartment I would guess that they stayed there and got drunk. I really don't want to be the one to tell Tsunade about it though, especially as I didn't bring Sakura back with me…"

"So don't tell her, let Kakashi and Sakura explain it. They are coming in later aren't they?"

Iruka nodded, "Well, I suppose she didn't specifically ask me to come and report to her afterwards, and I do have a class to get to…"

"That's the spirit, Iruka!" Ibiki slapped the younger man on the back, "see you later." And he left Iruka to get to his students. Of course, now he had some juicy gossip to spread. Who would have thought that Ibiki was such a gossip-monger?

xo xo xo xo xo xo xo

Back with Sakura and Kakashi, they had just got dressed, having completed a… vigorous workout... in the shower despite the earlier interruption. They were sharing a late breakfast, and Sakura had a question.

"So, who was at the door?" She asked, having been too distracted to ask previously.

"It was Iruka," Kakashi smirked, remembering how red the scarred man had gone.

Sakura's eyes widened, "Iruka-Sensei? I bet he was shocked. What did he want?"

"Oh, he was shocked alright. He'd been sent over by Tsunade as it appears that our audience were too tired and hung over to do any work this morning and they couldn't get any answers out of them."

Sakura looked out of the window. To her dismay, the ground where the idiot squad had been was covered in empty beer cans, popcorn boxes and other assorted rubbish. "Shit! You mean they were out there all night? I hope they didn't disturb the neighbors too much."

"There's no help for that now," Kakashi said, "But Iruka said that Tsunade wants us to pass by the office. I think she's trying to get to the bottom of the behavior of those idiots."

"I suppose we'd better go then."

"Nah, no rush," Kakashi leaned back. "She knows my reputation, and she won't be expecting me for a while yet."

"Hey, are you trying to taint my reputation as well?" Sakura said incredulously.

"Ah, no, not at all," Kakashi said a little apologetically, "but I think it might be a little late for that."

"Don't worry, it was worth it," Sakura blushed, "Come on, let's go." And with that, they left to head for Tsunade's office.

Of course, as they entered the building arm in arm, thanks to the gossip that Ibiki had so helpfully spread, they were subject to a few nudges and stares, and by the time they headed past the control room, they found themselves subject to a standing ovation. Sakura blushed and Kakashi smirked. Then they waved as they left to knock on the Hokage's office door.

"Come in," Tsunade called. She was happy to see Sakura enter, but she was surprised to see an out of uniform Kakashi with her. "Sakura, why is Kakashi with you?"

"Didn't Iruka-sensei tell you?" she asked.

"Iruka?" Tsunade cursed, having forgotten about him. "No, he never came back to me. So what are you doing here, Kakashi-San?"

Kakashi shrugged and leaned against the wall, so Sakura decided to answer. "I believe you are trying to find out why so many ninjas have caused themselves to be… incapacitated this morning?" when Tsunade nodded she continued, "Well, Kakashi here is part of the reason it happened."

Tsunade sighed and looked at the masked man, "Why am I not surprised that you are involved in this somewhere?" she said in exasperation, "So how did this all come about."

Sakura took a deep breath, "Well, it all started a couple of days ago when Kakashi and Gai-Sensei were drinking…"

Tsunade listened with increasing incredulousness as the story unfolded. When Sakura had finished, she was almost speechless.

"So you… and him…" she said as Sakura flushed pink and nodded. Kakashi just smirked. She shrugged, "Well, whatever floats your boat, I suppose. I do have to admit that's one of the most entertaining stories I've heard for a while, but it doesn't excuse that mob turning up in that state this morning, and I need to think of an appropriate punishment."

"I have an idea about that," Sakura said, and Tsunade listened intently as the pink haired girl outlined her plan. She smiled. This was going to be good.

xo xo xo xo xo xo xo

A couple of weeks later, crowds were gathered at the outskirts of the village, awaiting the event of the year. A group of the village's finest shinobi were going to race around the village 100 times, only dressed in loincloths. Most of the spectators, of course, were women, who had hearts in their eyes at all the male flesh on display.

The starting lineup included Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Chouji, Rock Lee, Inuzuka Kiba (minus Akamaru), Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, Maito Gai, Ebisu and Hatake Kakashi.

Kakashi had been included by order of the Hokage, as even though he hadn't been involved with the hung-over idiots, he had been involved in the bet that had caused all the trouble in the first place. Tsunade had been ready to insist on the "only a loincloth" part of Gai's forfeit, but thanks to a plea from Sakura, Kakashi had been allowed to keep his mask and an eye-patch to cover the Sharingan.

Sakura had also argued that the "beating with a brush" part should be dropped in favor of making it a straight race, of only 100 laps to make it more feasible. The winner would be declared "the better ninja" also taken from Gai's original forfeit.

When the punishment had been explained to the group of shame-faced ninjas, being that because they had involved themselves with Gai's bet, then they should share in his forfeit, Kiba and Naruto had shouted out, wondering why Hinata and Ino were being spared. This was backed up vocally by some of their peers. Of course, it had been decided that since the two girls had got the sense to go home and not become involved past a certain point, there was no need to punish them, a fact that the young men had taken with bad grace.

Kakashi hadn't been too happy about having to take part either, and had been tempted to be late so he could lose by default. Sakura, not wanting him to get into more trouble than he was already in, had mentioned that he would be letting Gai win if he did that, then seeing that he wasn't totally convinced, she had whispered something in his ear about rewarding him afterwards so he decided that taking part probably wouldn't be such a bad thing after all.

Of course, after Tsunade had given the "idiot squad" a thorough dressing down, she had sent them out with brooms and bins to clear up outside Sakura's apartment. The neighbors had all come out to watch the "elite" ninjas doing such a menial task and they gave the errant shinobis a hard time of it, sometimes even going as far as to 'accidentally' knock over the bins filled with collected garbage, just to make them clear it up all over again. The group had taken the abuse without retaliating (although with Naruto it was a close run thing) as they didn't want Tsunade to increase the punishment they were already getting.

There were many books running on the outcome of the race, but nobody was betting on poor old Chouji to win. No, instead they were running a sweepstake on how many laps the chunky lad would actually manage to complete before he collapsed or gave up. The favorites for winning the race were Kakashi, followed by Sasuke and then Gai, who of course bemoaned the fact that his eternal rival could even beat him in the length of the odds.

Eventually the race was ready to start. Sakura, Hinata and Ino were sat together at a good vantage point. Hinata was blushing madly at the sight of Naruto, and Ino was waving at Shikamaru who looked extremely bored about being there. Iruka had brought his class to see the spectacle, stating that it would be a good learning experience for them.

Neji, Tenten and Shino just thanked their lucky stars that they hadn't been around to get involved on the evening in question, although Shino was still managing to feel a little miffed about being left out again.

After a few more moments delay, Ibiki raised the starter's flag, and they were off. As was expected Naruto took off at top speed, not thinking about conserving his energy for later in the race. Eventually he was overtaken by everybody except Chouji and Shikamaru, much to his dismay. Oh well, at least he wasn't dead last this time.

Shikamaru, who didn't really care about the race at all, stuck with Chouji as he made his lumbering way around. It would take them several days to complete the course, as they took their sweet time over it, but Ino would win the sweepstake as she was the only one who bet that Chouji would actually finish, there not having been a time limit imposed. Thankfully, the race was taking place at a warm time of year, and Ino would bring them food so neither ninja would get cold or hungry. They split the proceeds of the sweepstake three ways.

Poor old Ebisu, he didn't know where to put himself. He knew that it was wrong to be showing off so much flesh, but since he was being forced to take part in this as a punishment, he would do his best. After the race was over, thanks to his well toned and muscled body and the fact that he was obviously single, he would suddenly find that he had his own fan-club and he could often be seen running away from one obsessed female or another. One day, he was cornered in his apartment by one particularly persistent fangirl and after that his inner pervert finally came out, turning him into a male slut. Still, hardly anyone was complaining, the guy had had a stick up his ass for far too long. There were one or two who missed the old prude though. He finished the race in a respectable fifth place.

Kiba didn't really do anything of note, just kept going steadily. Akamaru sat at the start/finish line and yipped in encouragement whenever he completed another lap. He finished in sixth, not too far behind Ebisu.

So the race finally came down to Sasuke, Lee, Gai and Kakashi. They had stuck together during the race, conserving their energy for the ending part. Kakashi and Sasuke had kept silent, but occasionally Gai would mutter something about his eternal rival that was completely ignored by the masked man.

Lee still wasn't speaking to Gai, much to the older man's chagrin. Lee had blamed Gai for Kakashi and Sakura getting together and he was nowhere near ready to forgive his mentor for the perceived loss of his chances with the cherry blossom yet. He spent the race sending filthy looks Kakashi's way, much to the masked man's amusement.

Half way round the final lap, at some unseen signal, Sasuke and Kakashi had taken off, leaving Gai and Lee in the dust. Lee had chased after the duo, but couldn't quite catch them and had to settle for finishing in third. Gai had cursed when he realized that he couldn't keep up with any of them, and finished in a sorry fourth place with tears running down his face at losing to his eternal rival for the second time in a row.

As Kakashi and Sasuke approached the finish line, they managed to put on another burst of speed, but were suddenly shocked to find a crowd of people, mainly Sakura's neighbors, bearing down on them with stiff brushes. This hadn't been mentioned in the terms of the 'punishment!' They had to duck and avoid the beating for all they were worth, but, mainly through tiredness at having just run 100 laps of the village, they couldn't avoid everyone so they still ended up with a few scrapes.

Tsunade stood at the finish line with a smirk on her face. Sakura might have asked her to make it so that they didn't have to beat themselves with a brush as they ran, but she couldn't let the idiots get off that easily. She hadn't told Sakura about this part, as she knew that the pink haired Kunoichi would warn Kakashi about it at the very least, and she didn't want the participants having the knowledge in advance. Of course, Chouji and Shikamaru would get off lightly, as nobody wanted to wait around to beat on them.

In the end, Sasuke won by a hairs breadth. Later, as Sakura tended to his scrapes and bruises, and gave him a massage to ease his tired muscles, she would ask Kakashi if he had let Sasuke win, which of course he had. Beating Gai (and Lee) had been good enough for the copy nin, so he had decided to let Sasuke take the victory, making it look convincing otherwise the Uchiha would have been pissed at being handed the win.

So, Sasuke was declared "The Better Ninja," and because the event had been such a success, it was decided that the race would be held every year, with those who deserved punishment for minor infractions taking part. In the couple of weeks leading up to the race, everyone would be on their very best behavior as even the most minor infringement could see them involved, especially if they were short of competitors. In future years, the brushes would also be used to keep the stragglers moving, no one wanting another 'Chouji and Shikamaru' incident to happen. The race came to be known as "The Konoha 1000," (in reference to the original forfeit,) and it drew large crowds whenever it was scheduled to take place. Certain people would end up taking part almost every year.

And to think, this had all started with a stupid bet!

xo xo xo xo xo xo xo

**Author's Notes.**

(1) 'Box' - See notes in Chapter 1.

Well, I hope you all enjoyed reading the alternate version of "It Started with a Bet?" as much as I enjoyed writing it. I was smiling almost all the way through. It's probably the most fun I've ever had writing a fic! If only they were all this easy!

And I suppose I could have added more characters to the idiot squad, but I don't like to have a huge character count and the story was threatening to get out of control with the ones I did include. Plus I'm not totally familiar with many of them anyway XD

Thanks to -

Freakenout - Thank you for the glowing review (blushes at the praise) .

December Jewel - I'm glad you think it's funny - the world needs more humorous KakaSaku fics :-P

Blackie - I know what you mean - I know this was SO much easier to write XD

Sakurachild - I kinda got the idea of everyone following them around from an episode of Prince of Tennis I watched ages ago. The idea amused me, and it seemed to fit, so I used it. LOL

Lady Nagome of the West - Thank you. In that case I hope I never get old.:-P I know that there are people older than me that write for the Ranma fandom in any case.

Also thanks to -

Eralda, LovelyCloud, Hinata-San and anyone else who reviews after this. :-)

So I think that's it until inspiration strikes me again. I do have a couple of embryonic ideas floating about, but I'll have to see how they pan out. Of course, if they do work out I will want to finish any fic I write before I post it, so it could be a while. Just hope it's not another 3 years before I'm back! XD

Mata ne,

Atom XX


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